Taylorville native serving third tour killed in Iraq

Tuesday

A U.S. Army staff sergeant who was born in Taylorville has been killed in Iraq.

A U.S. Army staff sergeant who was born in Taylorville has been killed in Iraq.

Robert Joseph Wilson, 28, died in Baghdad on Saturday. He was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on foot patrol, the Department of Defense reported.

Wilson moved to Florida with his mother, Peggy Habian, after his parents divorced when he was 2, his mother said. He grew up in Florida, although he attended high school in Taylorville for part of one year before enlisting in the Army, she said.

Wilson was serving his third Iraq tour, according to the Department of Defense. He was a member of the 101st Airborne Division and had been stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Habian said Wilson intended to make the military his career. He planned to re-enlist next month, she said.

“He was very good at what he did,” Habian said.

Since her son’s death, Habian said, reporters have been telephoning her and knocking on her door, which is not what her son would have wanted. She said she and her son talked about what should happen if he were killed in Iraq.